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Despite deep discounts on sales of homes that have fallen into foreclosure, the federal housing tax credit helped boost home prices last month in the Twin Cities metro area, according to data from two housing reports released Tuesday.

According to the much-watched monthly Case-Shiller survey, home prices in the metro area during April were 9.5 percent higher than they were last year during the same period, besting a 3.8 percent increase for the national average.

The results come as another study, from RealtyTrac, an online company that tracks national foreclosure rates, found sales of foreclosures represented almost one in five home sales in the Twin Cities metro area. On average those homes sold for almost 23 percent less than those not in the foreclosure process.

When it comes to the differences in the prices of foreclosures vs. traditional home sales, the Twin Cities generally fared better than the rest of the nation, where foreclosures represented 31 percent of all home sales with an average sale price that was nearly 27 percent lower than the sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process.

Since the housing crisis began, foreclosures have become an increasingly dominant part of the overall market. In 2007, foreclosures represented just 6 percent of all home sales, but they have increased dramatically as banks work to unload unsold properties.

The increases in sale prices, after several month-to-month declines, are likely the result of a spike in home sales triggered by the federal housing tax credit, which ended in April. The deadline for closing those sales is today, and thousands of homeowners are expected to miss the opportunity because of delayed closings.

Rob Mehta, a sales agent with Remax Results and a board member for the National Association of Realtors, said that while the tax breaks were intended to increase home prices -- and they did -- the increases aren't likely to be sustainable because many of the buyers who took advantage of the credit had planned to buy anyway.

"I don't think those numbers are here to stay," he said. "Now that this credit is gone, activity has dropped off significantly."

According to a weekly survey by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, pending home sales in the metro area were down almost 45 percent for the week ended June 19, with pending sales down almost 16 percent for the past three months.

The RealtyTrac survey reveals differences from state to state. In Nevada, foreclosures represented 64 percent of home sales. In Iowa, they were less than 8 percent.

Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376